ALDI makes positive packaging pledge

ALDI Australia will cut at least a quarter of all plastic packaging from its range by 2025 and remove single-use plastics such as cotton buds and plastic plates from its stores by the end of 2020. The supermarket chain’s plastics and packaging reduction commitments were made at a supplier forum attended by more than 100 business partners.

“It is our ambition to reduce the amount of plastics in our stores while in parallel stimulating Australia’s circular economy, ensuring that our business partners have commercially viable packaging options to reduce their reliance on virgin materials,” said Oliver Bongardt, Managing Director of Buying, ALDI Australia.

“Despite our desire, and that of our customers, to remove plastics immediately, this process will take years, not weeks. [The] announcement is to clearly demonstrate that we are completely invested in the important journey of reducing waste and we stand committed to quantify our progress over the coming years,” he continued.

ALDI is committed to working with its business partners to achieve the following commitments:

• Reduce plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2025 (2019 baseline).
• Actively reduce plastic packaging in the fresh produce range and transition to more sustainable alternatives where possible, providing no increase in food waste.
• Phase out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics by the end of 2020, including plastic straws, plastic disposable tableware and plastic-stemmed cotton buds.
• Prioritise the reduction or replacement of difficult-to-recycle black plastic packaging.
• Reformulate packaging of exclusive brands to be 100% recyclable, re-usable or compostable by the end of 2025.
• Transition paper and pulp-based packaging used in the everyday range to FSC, PEFC or 70% recycled by the end of 2020.
• Stimulate an Australian circular economy by including 30% recycled materials in plastic packaging by the end of 2025.
• Publicly report against all of these goals from 2020.
• Adopt the Australasian Recycling Label on ALDI-branded products by the end of 2022 and continue to educate customers on the importance of packaging waste reduction (reduce, re-use, recycle).
   

In response to ALDI’s announcement, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation CEO Brooke Donnelly said, “I’d like to acknowledge ALDI on their new sustainability commitments, which represent a significant contribution to sustainable packaging in Australia and an important milestone in our work to reach the 2025 National Packaging Targets. [The] announcement demonstrates that sustainable packaging isn’t just good for the environment; it also makes good business sense and can drive a range of positive commercial benefits.

“It's particularly impressive to see the process ALDI has undertaken to involve their suppliers, effectively bringing a range of businesses along on their sustainable packaging journey and delivering an efficient, cost-effective approach to the entire supply chain.”

Image credit: ©Art Allianz/Dollar Photo Club